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O.T.Old order Amish travel restrictions

J

just another old geezer

Member
I live in an area where we have the Schwartzentruber Amish. These are the most restrictive of them all. They can only ride in a car for an emergency. Last night I helped one make train reservations to Ohio, as his father had passed away. The Amtrak agent said they would need photo Id to board. When I told her it would be Amish she said for people with a religious objection to being photographed they would accept 2 forms of non-photo id. This would be any combination of birth certificate, voter Id card, medicare, medicade, social security, or health insurance card. Since they don't participate in any of that and all they have is a birth certificate, I wonder how they will be able to travel when these rules get enforced.
 
Old order here in pa. have a non photo ID card, looks like a driver license with no photo. But these Amish can ride in a car or train anytime they want.
 
in wisc to buy guns you need photo id or a note from the bishop. there driving rules vary some can only go once a week others when the want. funny one the cant ride on sunday but kids day at neighbors a horse got loose and headed for home kids in pursuit asked if they needed ride nobody said a word about religion a pile of amish boys jumped in and started hollering go faster!! caught the horse 5 miles down the road 1 mile out of town
 
Yeah, in PA its getting a little "loose". I remember 10 years ago the only tractors on the farm were ones used on the pit pump. Now they use steel wheel tractors to move equipment between farms, and almost every amish farm has a skidsteer now....
 
Our Old Order Amish don't even have an ID card! The only "ID" they carry is a checkbook. It has their name and address on it. They use Amtrak all the time. They are supposed to use "public transportation" when ever possible.
I drove a neighbor 35 miles to the bus station last Fall. They then took the bus less then 20 miles to their final destination. Would have been cheaper for me to take them all the way.
 
I live in the middle of IL Amish country and have been here for nearly 50 years. In our territory, nearly all the Amish have IL ID and most Social Security numbers as they hold off farm jobs. No travel restrictions here. In fact, here they have been contemplating relaxing rules as they relate to horse and buggy transportation.
 
Two rules to being Amish. My observations: Uncomfortable or Inconvenient. What ever they want to do has to fit one of these rules.
 
remember this story amish go to mexico for medical needs one bright and energetic local noticed that they dont check the amish at the border so he came up with a plan rather then bother the border patrol they would simple dress as amish and pass unchecked great plan only one small flaw the missed one little detail the dressed the driver amish
 
2 years ago at a sale barn I saw some playing on cell phones, there was an older Amish gent that was stopped on the highway in his Ford pickup, cop asked for drivers license, he said he didn't need any he is Amish.
 
Whats difference between a Amishman playing loose with the rules of their particular church or a Catholic guy going to 5:00PM Mass Saturday night and then going out drinking and whoring around on his wife? Or a good Baptist cheating on his wife, or a Jew eating non-kosher meat or any of a million other thing? I don't see a difference. People are people and you don't trash the whole Catholic Church because a few guys do wrong, or the Baptists or Jews or Unitarians or Methodists or Mormon or the non-religious either. It's even worse when people who don't even try to understand the sub-culture judge it from a perspective based in ignorance.

So yeah, SOME Schwartzentruber Amish play fast and loose with the rules, just like 100% of us do in one way or another. Every time you do 56 in a 55, take a tax credit or exemption that isn't quite accurate, use a wi-fi spot you don't pay for, take a pen home from work, etc. you're doing the same thing they are.

Rules, they're everywhere!
 
Many will carry a work cellphone.

Their "rules" are decided by their local bishop - so it changes from congregation to congregation.

Rules tend to be greatly relaxed for work purposes.

They're not slaves to their rejection of modern conveniences. They'll change their rules from time to time so that they don't have to starve.

Many young amish girls learn to use computers so they can work in an office environment.

It's common for people to misunderstand the importance of their rules. It's not the rule itself that holds some kind of religious importance, like the ten commandments.

It's not like god came down and declared rubber tires bad, and therefore they can't be used.

The idea is more a theme of keeping their lives uncomplicated, avoid too much idle time, and keep focused on family. There's a lot of room for variation in that theme.
 
(quoted from post at 08:51:55 02/12/14) Whats difference between a Amishman playing loose with the rules of their particular church or a Catholic guy going to 5:00PM Mass Saturday night and then going out drinking and whoring around on his wife? Or a good Baptist cheating on his wife, or a Jew eating non-kosher meat or any of a million other thing? I don't see a difference. People are people and you don't trash the whole Catholic Church because a few guys do wrong, or the Baptists or Jews or Unitarians or Methodists or Mormon or the non-religious either. It's even worse when people who don't even try to understand the sub-culture judge it from a perspective based in ignorance.

So yeah, SOME Schwartzentruber Amish play fast and loose with the rules, just like 100% of us do in one way or another. Every time you do 56 in a 55, take a tax credit or exemption that isn't quite accurate, use a wi-fi spot you don't pay for, take a pen home from work, etc. you're doing the same thing they are.

Rules, they're everywhere!
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Excellent post! Well said.
 
(quoted from post at 06:22:27 02/12/14) Many will carry a work cellphone.

Their "rules" are decided by their local bishop - so it changes from congregation to congregation.

Rules tend to be greatly relaxed for work purposes.

They're not slaves to their rejection of modern conveniences. They'll change their rules from time to time so that they don't have to starve.

Many young amish girls learn to use computers so they can work in an office environment.

It's common for people to misunderstand the importance of their rules. It's not the rule itself that holds some kind of religious importance, like the ten commandments.

It's not like god came down and declared rubber tires bad, and therefore they can't be used.

The idea is more a theme of keeping their lives uncomplicated, avoid too much idle time, and keep focused on family. There's a lot of room for variation in that theme.
Click to expand...

Good points. The cry of hypocrisy goes up any time the Amish are mentioned, yet our own hypocrisy is routinely ignored. That goes for me too. "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone..."
 
(quoted from post at 10:59:28 02/13/14) Well put.Pretty hard to lump us Unitarians in there though.Theres almost nothing we aren't allowed to do.
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True enough, but some people will bad mouth any church, any group, any race, etc any chance they get without any real cause or knowledge.
 
(quoted from post at 05:39:14 02/14/14)
(quoted from post at 10:59:28 02/13/14) Well put.Pretty hard to lump us Unitarians in there though.Theres almost nothing we aren't allowed to do.
Click to expand...

True enough, but some people will bad mouth any church, any group, any race, etc any chance they get without any real cause or knowledge.
Click to expand...


In a way kinda funny. Here in west MN in 72-73 us teens laughed at the OH so holy on Sunday morning when it was more of a question of who they were sleeping the night before. One upstanding elder was an English teacher who got caught in an extra marital gay relationship right after I graduated. To us kids it was a joke.

Kinda like the story the kid told: I prayed every day for a bike. Then I figured out that God didn't work that way. So I stole a bike and prayed for forgiveness.

Rick
 
People are people Rick. Religion, race, se xual orientation, upbringing, color of their hair or the amount of money they have or don't have makes no difference. People are all animals and 95% of us would do something really, really bad under the right circumstances. I've seen it time after time, and I don't exempt myself from the possibility. The only good thing is that most of us never are put in "the right circumstance". Any one in the military, police work or running a bar has seen it a million times- a good, solid citizen you'd never think would do something really bad gets drunked up or jealous or has some bills that are due and sha-bam! He or she does something totally out of character and crazy. So it makes little sense to brand an entire group based on the actions of an individual whether it's the Amish, teachers, cops, Mormons, farmers, bank clerks, elected officials or upper middle class church ladies who never wore a dress above the knee and always crossed their legs at the ankle. They can all be something other than what they appear.
 
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